Salle will be relationship counsel to YRC Worldwide Inc., advising the company on corporate, litigation and employment matters.

He said he did a couple of deals with YRC General Counsel Michelle Russell about 10 years ago and kept in touch, later working with her as an outside adviser at Foulston Siefkin LLP while she was general counsel of Spirit AeroSystems Inc. in Wichita.

“When Michelle told me (YRC was) looking for relationship counsel in Kansas City, Stinson was the only firm I really thought of,” Salle said. “It’s the best law firm in the city, from my perspective.”

He should know. Salle previously practiced at predecessor firm Stinson Mag & Fizzell. He later worked at what are now Armstrong Teasdale LLP, Kutak Rock LLP, SNR Denton LLP and Polsinelli Shughart PC.

His clients have included Entertainment Properties Trust, Kansas City Southern and DST Systems Inc.

Tag, you’re it

Tag Heuer SA has accused a North Kansas City jewelry store of selling its watches without permission.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, the Swiss company said Meierotto’s Midwest Jewelers has not been authorized to sell its watches since 2003.

The suit says Meierotto “has made efforts to conceal its stock of Tag Heuer watches, and only sells them out of a suitcase taken from the back of the store.” It also says the store misrepresents that the watches are backed by a manufacturer’s warranty and defaces the packaging to obscure product numbers.

The suit claims trademark infringement and unfair competition and seeks as much as $2 million per counterfeit mark. Mark Sableman of Thompson Coburn LLP in St. Louis represents Tag Heuer.

In a statement, Ted Meierotto said the dispute is only about whether his store is an “authorized dealer” of certain Tag Heuer watches.

“The lawsuit does not challenge the authenticity of any watch sold by Meierotto Jewelers,” he said. “Meierotto Jewelers will vigorously defend our ability to legally sell more than 50 brands of quality watches and provide the largest selection of watches in Kansas City.”

After you ... No, I insist, after you

Kansas City lawyers are fond of saying their bar is the most affable around.

After about a year on the legal beat here, I’d say that seems mostly to be true, though, of course, lawyers will zealously defend their clients’ interests.

Still, some feel their peers aren’t as cordial as in the good old days. So the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association will present its first “Civility Summit” on Oct. 8 at Indian Hills Country Club in Mission Hills.

University of Kansas men’s basketball Coach Bill Self will speak at the event, which also will include a panel discussion with “distinguished judges and lawyers.”